Bright, Sunshiny Day
by Annamonk
Summary: I wrote this for the sister of my heart. I hope it puts a smile on her face and brings some sunshine to a grey day. It's a little bit of Dramione fun. Not my sandbox, but the beach is entirely drawn from my imagination.


Draco glared out at the sun drenched beach.

White sand and rocky cliffs. He looked up and saw the sprawling green of lush plant life. He rolledhis eyes. He didn't even have a proper view of the beach.

Of course, she picked a beach on an island in the middle of the bloody Pacific. This was supposed to be a luncheon and his bloody Gryffindor turned it into an adventure. He dragged a deep breath into his lungs and cast three different shield spells to block the sun from marring his fair skin.

He followed the trail made from a wild profusion of colored petals past some large rocks into what appeared to be a very private cove. Well, it was beautiful. White sand, turquoise water darkening into the azure sea, and her. She stood at the edge of the water with her wild hair tamed and braided through with flowers. Goddess, he adored her. He swirled his hand about and summoned her petals. Twisting and twirling his wrist, he sent them to whirl around her. Her laughter bounced off the high rocks, joyous and whole.

She spun toward him and waved with her whole arm. He couldn't help the answering lift of his lips. He walked down to her slowly. He needed to draw out every second of this, every moment until his heart would break.

She flung herself into his arms as she had a thousand times before. He caught her with one arm across her back and lifted her chin with his free hand. Her eyes sparkled in the bright light, the flecks of copper and gold seeming almost metallic in the warm brown.

"Where's Potter?" He smirked to cover the hard edge of his voice.

"Zanzibar. I left him there with Luna." She pushed up onto her toes and pressed her lips to his. His mind twisted her words around trying to find the manticore's tail. He cradled her body against his own even as his mind raced. There was always a sting.

She broke the kiss and sank back down. He caressed her arm tracing the barely visible word. The scars had faded, but she still covered them in public. It was a sign of her trust in him that she didn't hide them from him.

"How long do we have?" He closed his eyes. This would be the last time, but he wouldn't tell her that yet. He wouldn't break them both to bits until she had to leave. Let Potter put her back together for once. His father had been clear.

The Malfoy name came with responsibilities.

Responsibilities couldn't be put off.

Not again.

"We have all the time in the world." She traced her fingers over his eyelids. He swallowed down the pain her answer caused. Their time was finite. She would go back to Potter, and he would sign whatever betrothal contract his father shoved in front of him. He forced his eyes open. He needed to build up the memories, needed to lock in her image, for the future that loomed.

She snapped her fingers and turned him toward a platform that suddenly appeared. There was a lush meal of seafood and fruit on the formal table. She'd crafted the table to look like something from a fine restaurant.

"I spent a fortune on the wine." She grabbed his hand and led him to the table. "I hope it's good."

"I'm sure it is." He pulled out her chair and helped her settle. "You don't usually enjoy the formalities."

"It seemed important." She shrugged and smiled at him from across the table. "We can't always eat with our fingers on a pile of rugs and pillows."

He watched her eat with perfect manners, each bite measured and precise. She could be in the dining room at Malfoy Manor and fit in perfectly. He put his own utensils down.

"How long until you run off to join Potter?" He couldn't do this. He couldn't pretend.

"I've never been running off to join Harry." She sighed and put her own silverware down. "I was always running toward you. I just took a circuitous route. I know I've made some choices that were hard for you to understand, but I'm done."

"You're done?" He tilted his head slightly as she slid a paper across the table. He covered it with his hand, but made no effort to read it. "What does that mean?"

"I'm ready for our life, ready to put down roots." She grinned. "A ring seemed presumptuous and I don't want to get lost in the gloom, so I built this place for us. Well, I had it built. Read the paper."

He flipped the paper and stared at the words.

The holiday home of Draco Malfoy and his wife is Silver Blade Island.

He felt the world shift and looked up. Perched in the cliffs was a huge home. It was open and light. He pulled the paper close to him.

"I call it the Aerie." She pushed back from the table. "It has all the amenities. I hope you like it enough to want to spend the occasional vacation here."

"Draco Malfoy and his wife." Draco turned to look at her.

"It took me five years to get this right. I had to break some curses that would send dementors running to afford it, but Malfoy's love grand gestures." She sunk her front teeth into her lower lip for a moment. "I see a few options for us now."

"Options." He raised a brow.

"My least favorite is that I leave here without you because I've left things too late and you've moved on. The next option I'm not so fond of is similar. it differs in that you haven't moved on, but our relationship is over because I've been absent for most of it." She dropped her gaze down to her bare feet. "The island would still be yours."

"You wouldn't even remember where it was." Draco held the paper up.

"No." She looked up at the house. "It's yours."

"There must be some options that hold more appeal for you." Draco grabbed her hand.

"There are." She looked up at him. "They all end up with us married and happy."

"My mother will want to plan the wedding." Draco pulled her around the table and into his lap. "It won't be small or simple or anything you want."

"I want you." She leaned against him. "As long as I get you, she can drape me in green chiffon if it makes her happy."

"She would never dress a bride in green chiffon. This marriage will certainly stir things up. My father will be disappointed." Draco grinned. "He was lining up the pure blood options."

"Did he check their teeth?" Hermione slotted her head under his chin. "I hear that's important."

"I wish we were already married." Draco looked out at the sea, sparkling in the midday sun. "I don't want to take any risks. I don't want to wait."

"Your mother could arrange a reception instead of a wedding." She pushed back from him and pulled her necklace from inside her dress. The tiny beaded purse looked like a charm until she enlarged it with a pass of her hand.

"It would be exponentially larger than the wedding." Draco watched as she rummaged around, shoulder deep in her bag.

"Well, she would need to punish us." Hermione grinned and pulled a long wooden box out of the bag.

"You joke, but she will be unreasonable." Draco shook his head. "Father won't be able to rein her in."

"Would you rather wait?" She looked up at him with a smile. "Do this like a proper Malfoy?"

"At midnight, in the circle? Sky clad?" Draco shook his head. "I think the water's edge under the bright sun will do quite nicely."

Hermione giggled as he dragged her toward the surf. He'd come here expecting an end. Merlin, he should have known. She loved surprising him.

He felt the water swirl around his ankles and retreat. This was the place. Turning to face her, he was gobsmacked. The white dress. The flowers in her hair. Hermione never wore white and usually let her hair be wild. He looked at her happy smile. She looked so innocent, but she'd led him to do exactly what she wanted.

He laced their fingers together and stared down into her eyes. Her sun kissed skin set off against the dress nicely. Everything was perfect. He'd never even noticed her moving him about like a pawn on the chess board.

Their children were going to rule Slytherin.

She handed him the box. He held the wooden rectangle and let his magic flow through it. The ceremonial knife within was new. Hermione had carved the handle and flaked the blade herself. He could sense it.

"The old one was corrupted during the war. I wanted to start this new chapter of the Malfoy dynasty off without anymore baggage than necessary." She watched him avidly as he opened the box. "Do you like it?"

The runes carved into the ebony handle were infused with mythril. He looked at the carving. It would take weeks to translate her work. He picked it up and felt the power surge up his arm.

"Protections and blessings." He looked up at her. "There's not a curse on it."

"The traditional curses seemed rather harsh. Marriage is already a sacred vow." She raised one shoulder.

"I like it. The start of our new life together should be free of my family's eccentricities." He lifted the blade up and watched the sun spark off it. "The first sunlit wedding in Malfoy history, it's a good start."

Hermione smiled and cast the circle around them. The petals rose from the sand and swirled around to form a circle around them. The circle floated in the air, moving constantly.

"Show off." Draco smirked. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Circles within circles" Hermione smiled that crooked smile he loved. "The cove is a naturally protected circle. I did try to think of everything."

"Starting a new tradition needs planning." Draco fingered the runes under his fingers. "All these years, you've been doing this, learning how to do this, and traipsing around the world with your lost boy."

"I didn't want to leave you." Hermione closed her eyes.

"But Harry beckoned." Draco sighed.

"He needed me." She forced her eyes open. "I vowed on my magic to Ron as he lay dying that I would get Harry through it. Through to the battle, through the war, through the victory. He was half mad and seeing ghosts that weren't there. He needed me. I went with him as his sister in arms. I went with him and planned everyday for this."

"When he beckons again?" Draco couldn't help the flare of jealous fear.

"We have guest rooms and he has Luna." Hermione grinned. "If worse comes to worst, you'll just have to learn how to live in a tent. It's not that awful."

"We will hire mind healers and expand the Malfoy holdings." Draco met her gaze evenly. He couldn't smile. Such things were often misinterpreted. He wasn't joking.

"I come to you with all my gifts and deficits." She stepped closer to him. "Will you accept me?"

He took a deep breath. She'd started the ceremony. She was certain. He wanted to shout out a cry of victory despite the boorishness of such behavior.

"I accept in hopes that you accept my own." He took another deep breath and held out the knife. He positioned his free hand and smiled as she held hers opposite. Their fingers laced as the two sided blade bit into their palms. He pulled it down and watched as three drops of their blood fell into the frothing water at their feet. Power surges up and out from the water and sand. He looked up at Hermione and caught her cat in the cream smile. She'd been expecting the power surge.

All my gifts.

He closed his eyes. The knife, the very land they were standing on were her gifts. She charged the ceremony to increase their power. She never missed a flick of her wand.

Dropping the knife to his side, he took a deep breath. The magic around him flowed. He could sense it in a way that he'd never imagined. He focused on her.

Her magic.

Their magic.

He felt the warmth growing in his palm. He looked at their joined hands and saw the silver and golden bindings forming an intricate knot around them. He looked passed their glowing appendages and saw her. He didn't want to limit this feeling with specific vows.

"I love you." He pushed the words out into the magic. "All that I am, all that I will ever be is yours."

"I love you." Her words seemed to wrap around his whole body. "I give myself, now and forever, to you."

He felt the pain of the binding set in as the magic flared out and wrapped around them. Nothing in magic was free. He forced himself to keep breathing. His eyes locked on her. He watched her front teeth carve into her lush lower lip. Her eyes fluttered open, and their gazes crashed into each other. The pain faded away with the rest of the world. She was everything to him.

The magic built around them and poured through them. He saw her lips quirk and knew without a doubt that this was a bit more than she'd planned. The power surge alone was impressive. If they retained as much from this as he suspected, they would be unstoppable.

Too bad he no longer wanted the world sprawled at his feet.

He took in her wide smile and the smattering of freckles across her nose. His wife. She was his. He pulled her close and felt her body brush against his.

He stared down into her eyes. The multitudes of ambers and browns, the odd specks of gold, they all sparkled in the bright sun. He felt the fluttering of her breath on his skin and let his gaze slide down to her lips. Lush and full and stained with berries from the meal they'd hardly touched. She was his. He closed his eyes and gathered her close. Their lips met soft, then frantic. He took a deep breath and pulled her down to the sand with him.

He didn't need the world. He didn't want it.

He had her.

Hermione.

The world sprawled at her feet would be just fine with him.


End file.
